There are countless things that can make your blood boil when dealing with Atlanta traffic. Slow drivers in the fast lane, people texting while driving, tailgating, people not using their blinker, aggressive drivers. I could literally fill this entire column with reasons why we get enraged behind the wheel.
There is one thing in particular that drives me nuts when I’m behind the wheel. In metro Atlanta we are all too familiar with driving through construction zones. Constant roadwork means we have a better than average chance of driving on a freeway at some point during the week when at least one lane of traffic is closed.
What makes me crazy in these construction zones are drivers that know a lane is closed ahead but insist on driving in the lane that is going to be closed as far as possible and then jumping in the other lane, in essence cutting in line in front of everyone who has already merged over. This makes me so mad. Who do these people think they are? Why do they think they should get special treatment? They should merge early like the rest of us!
Well, as annoying as this might seem to you and me, apparently when it comes to traffic flow, those drivers that don’t merge until the end are actually helping traffic. Traffic experts call it the “Zipper Merge” and the drivers that wait until the end of the lane to merge are doing the right thing, no matter how unfair it seems to be.
A handful of states are now encouraging motorists to use the Zipper Merge in construction zones. According to the Kansas Department of Transportation a Zipper Merge is: “When a lane is closed in a construction work zone, a ‘zipper merge’ occurs when drivers use both lanes of traffic up until reaching the defined merge area, where they then alternate turns in “zipper” fashion into the open lane.”
The Kansas DOT suggests doing this when approaching a lane closure:
“When drivers see the “lane closed ahead” sign and traffic backing up, drivers should stay in their current lane up to the point of merge and then take turns with the other drivers to safely and smoothly merge into the remaining open lane. When traffic volumes are heavy and traffic is moving slow, it is much safer for motorists to remain in their current lane until the point where traffic can orderly take turns merging.”
The thinking is that the longer all lanes of traffic are being used, the better traffic will be. If everyone merges too early, pavement in the other lane goes unused and the delays in the merge lane grow causing an even bigger backup.
Minnesota, Missouri, Washington, Colorado and Arizona are also currently urging motorists to adopt the zipper merge.
I’ve been driving for 26 years and I’ve always been an early merger. It could take me a while to adopt the Zipper Merge and even longer to stop getting mad at those that cut the line, but if it makes traffic better I reluctantly will get on board.
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